H is for Hope (Digital Download)

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4 1/2 years ago my husband and I went through the adoption process and was placed with a beautiful baby girl, whom we named Jacqueline.

Her birth mother Jo is a single mother to four children. Both of her parents passed away tragically when Jo was a teenager and she has been on her own ever since. I can't disclose all of the awful things that she has been victim to in her life or things that her children have been through but it has been horrible to say the least.

Shortly after Jacquie was born, she flew back to Detroit and found herself homeless with her four children. When I asked her how things were going, she vaguely let me know that things were not that good. I quickly acted.

I had very little money to help, as Jacquie's adoption cost us nearly $60,000. I crowdsourced funds and asked everyone I knew (and didn't know) to please donate. I researched housing in her area but didn't have enough time on my side to get them relocated. However, just in the nick of time we were donated air miles and the six of them (including Jacquie's birth father, who is no longer in the picture) flew into California to live with us until we figured it out. I was able to raise about $5800 on a GoFundMe and my husband and I fronted the rest which was about $5000 to get them back to their hometown in a home of their own.

When they arrived back to Detroit, the home had been destroyed. It was so devastating as we had just busted our butts to get her to that point. They had no where to go. Jo and her four children lived in a home with no plumbing, no toilets, no electrical, no window and doors. Again, my husband and I sent whatever we had to help and within a years time she was able to get the home back in livable conditions.

In 2016, Jo met another young girl in her late teens who had three small children and was pregnant again. She was homeless. Jo quickly felt connected to her and talked to her about her own personal adoption journey and the young girl agreed that adoption would be best for her unborn child. Jo took her and her three young children under three years in to her home. (This should be stated, that her home is a two bed, one bath, 700 square foot house). Things were not going well as the young girl had a lifestyle that was threatening to Jo's younger children. Jo told the young girl that she would have to leave. Without giving details because there is unresolved police reports, Jo's home was burnt to the ground with her kids still inside. They were thankfully ok. No arrests have been made and Jo and her children are homeless with absolutely nothing again!

Jo so badly wants to get out of the area. When she told us what had happened my husband and I tried to help by editing her resume for her and created a website for her work experience to show potential employers. We didn't have anything substantial to give financially but we knew we could try to help in other ways. (Which I need to state, jo has NEVER asked for any money or help). She's been specifically interested in the Vegas area as her only work experience is hospitality and housekeeping for the past 20 years. We have been helping her apply to jobs. She gets contacted for interviews but then has no means to get there.

In March of this year, we flew her in to visit with us and most importantly Jacquie. We took a short trip to Vegas and let her see for the first time the city. She hit the ground running, dropping her resume off at every big hotels HR desk. She was contacted for an interview and the two of us flew out for a day trip for her to interview and explore the area of potentially she would live. She was offered the position but again didn't have the means to relocate and I had nothing to help her with.

Earlier this month, I started asking for help, which is something I didn't want to do because I want to be very respectful of her and her story and you. I am thankful I started talking about it because we have raised a little over $1000. My husband and I dragged our two little ones to Las Vegas on our free hotel rooms and have been apartment searching for her, determined to help her relocate. We decided on an apartment community, let her know what we were doing and she was blown away!

And then I get the email that she's approved BUT the deposits are stifling. I don't have the money to afford deposit and first month rent and transportation and furniture/household items. I can't wrap my head around all these efforts going in vain and not securing her a new home but I also don't have the means to pay for it. I am truly at a loss.

I am so sorry to constantly be asking for help. I need a power greater than myself to help Jo. I'm hoping you can find it in your heart to help us secure a new start for Jo and her family.

She has given Jacquie so much. A chance at a good life. A chance of an open adoption (which Jo initially did not want to do and I am so thankful she changed her mind). Jacquie will have opportunities her children never had and that is priceless. I hope we can give Jo and her two youngest children a chance too. A chance at normalcy. A chance of safety. A chance to be able to thrive not just survive. Thank you all so much. I love all of you so much! ❤️😭 - Melissa (Robert, Jacquie + Michael)